Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
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Book Reviews of Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Book Review: Enigmatic Landmark
Summary: 5 Stars
Though it has long been a staple of the Extropian reading list. Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter is such an entertaining and complex book that it can never have too many reviews.Originally published in 1979, Gödel Escher Bach proved to do what few other books before it could do: merge the essence of science, philosophy and art together in a single linear text. This on its own is a difficult feat; however, it is the level of insight into each area which makes GEB such essential Extropian reading, and is ultimately what won it the Pulitzer Prize for that year.
Beginning with one of many dialogues between Achilles and the Tortoise (done in the style of Lewis Carroll) one knows that this is not your average book. However, despite the lighthearted appearance of the dialogues, in actuality they provide the embodiment of the previous and successive chapters in a somewhat more frivolous form. For example, the first dialogue questions the feasibility of the existence of motion...a physics problem tackled in a comical setting and discussion. From there Hofstadter takes us on a journey through mathematical formal systems, Zen, inconsistency theorems, canonic music compositions, Turing machines and self-referential sentences...tying them all together with the common link of cognitive study.
Beyond the complex issues posited by the text itself, Hofstadter's writing style makes the book palatable to scientists and non-scientists alike, causing the artist to think scientifically, and the scientist to appreciate the nuances of artistry. Hofstadter appears to have an open enough mind to not view any of his conclusions as absolute truths...a distinction which very few scientific authors possess. Perhaps the most inherent value of the book is that despite its age (let's face it: 21 years is an eon ago in the face of technological progress) it is still extremely fresh and offers months worth of fodder for progressive thought on a multitude of complex issues.
In the Extropian community, Gödel Escher Bach has inspired luminaries such as Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, Max More and Spike Jones among many others. In essence, it is a wonderful book that deserves to be read by anyone who has an interest in technology, philosophy, art and cognition; there are no others like it.
Book Review: Essential reading
Summary: 5 Stars
GEB is a great jumping point into issues of the philosophy of the mind, the underpinnings of mathemetical logic and the possibility of artificial intelligence and consciousness.The book explores a number of themes - one of the most important is joining together disparate forms of 'strange loops' - paradoxical self referential constructs that pop up in in art (Escher and Bach fugues), mathematics (Godel's theorem), religion (Zen buddhism), AI and various other places.
I agree with another reviewer - everything in GEB leads towards an understanding the mind (Hofstadter's field is of course AI/cog science) - it's not just a random romp - but it's a misleading exagerration to say GEB is trying to provide a bottom-up theory!
It is true, some of the foundations of AI such as propositional logic are explored and various metaphors for the mind are developed as well as the importance of circular self-referentiality, and emergence of complex behavior from simple primitives - but the implications for AI and cognitive science are always rather vague and the HOW is mostly left as an open-ended question.
This open-endedness perhaps contributes to the rambling feeling of the book. Of course these questions are great mysteries and it's not surprising that GEB doesn't provide a neat theory to tie it all together.
At it's size it is a rather daunting book to read in one go, but since a lot of chapters are rather independent it is possible to dip into it from time to time, i find myself picking it up occasionally and re-reading random chapters, usually i notice something new to ponder on.
For me the most unique contribution of this book is the pointing out the importance of 'strange loops' in so many areas of thought (although they're never formally defined). I found myself constantly linking this idea to other things - for example Jacques Derrida's notion of deconstruction seems to me most easily understood as about creating a linguistic strange-loop to point out the limitations of language and philosophy itself.
I don't think the book has really dated much at all the central ideas are timeless and AI and cognitive science haven't advanced to a point that invalidates anything, although Fermat's theorem has now been solved.
Book Review: Down the Rabbit Hole...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a difficult book.
Difficult to read. Difficult to understand. And, I'm finding, difficult to review. What's it about? Good question. The author, himself, isn't very clear on this point, describing it as "a metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll." I'm not sure I can do better than that. I will tell you this, however: if the book has a "point," it does seem to be that man's consciousness is ultimately mechanical and, therefore, that there is no reason that machines cannot finally be intelligent in the same sense that man is. (And, in fact, be as man in just about every internal way.)
While I take issue with this conclusion, and some of Hofstadter's reasoning along the way, I don't think that my debating his points is the basis on which a prospective reader should decide whether or not to pick up this book. Instead, the prospective reader should know: that this is a lengthy and deep work. It will take a *long* time to read properly, and most readers should not read more than a chapter a day. Many of the sections, and especially the various dialogues that preface the chapters, are quite clever. (These dialogues are usually between Achilles and the Tortoise, of Zeno's paradoxes, and their friends.) Some of the chapters grow incredibly technical. The subject matters vary, wildly and rapidly, and there will be points in reading where you will question your investment.
In the end, you will feel good for having pushed through the hard bits. It will coalesce, more or less, into a whole. Whether you finally agree with Hofstadter's conclusions or not, you'll have learned much and thought about important topics you might otherwise not have.
A good book, certainly not for everyone... but, if you're the "right" audience--someone deeply interested in questions of intelligence, mathematics, computer science and free will, and possessed of a bit of an ironic sense of humor--then this book cannot be recommended highly enough.
Five stars, for the work it represents, and the doors it opens to the reader.
Book Review: GEB's too good to summarize in one line. I need more space.
Summary: 5 Stars
GEB is definitely the best book I've ever read. As many people have said, it has something for everyone... who would have thought it was possible to work fugues, metamathematics, "Strange Loops" (I still don't understand what these are), molecular biology, Zen Buddhism, cognitive science, etc., etc., etc. into one book? (Of course, it is a very large book...) The dialogues are probably the best part. My favorite dialogues would have to be: - Crab Canon & Sloth Canon. Wonderful "translations" of Bach's music. (Does DRH comment on these "translations" in Le Ton Beau de Marot?) - Mu Offering: essentially a disguised version of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. Instead of DNA, the bases A, C, G, T, and proteins, it involves strings, funny geometric symbols, and Zen koans. I'm surprised he doesn't comment on this isomorphism in the Chapter. Also, a few days ago I noticed that he works Godel's Theorem in here with the string figures... another typical example of the many levels of meaning in the book. -Contrafactus (I think that's the name) - Achilles, the Tortoise, et al. watch a football game in "subjunctive instant replay". I think there's a chapter in Metamegical Themas about this idea of "slippability", as DRH likes to call it. I just read it for the second time... the first time for no reason in particular, this second time partially because i felt like it and partially because I'm doing a presentation in my music class on crab canons. This book has everything - I'd recommend it to friends, but it is a very challenging book. I'm sure there's plenty of things in it I've missed, and I don't know if they'd pick up on them. But maybe I underestimate them? In any case, if you haven't read this book yet, do yourself a favor and buy GEB as soon as possible. You won't regret it.Book Review: Escape from predestination
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems highly appropriate that Douglas Hofstatder should re-release his epic work now. His central theme plays so eloquently in this place and time: Every system folds in on itself, be it physics, mathematics, or any form of language. All these systems are inherently self-referential, and as such, take on a life of their own. A life their creators could never imagine. Many reviewers have focused on the explicit messages of the book, their likes or dislikes, but the great beauty of this work lies within the realm of what it does not say. It is, no doubt, the most difficult book I have ever read, and I have to admit it took me several false starts to finally get through the thing. It is so incredibly deep - one cannot simply wade through it like a sci-fi novel. But if you take your time, spend, say about a year on it - work through the TNT exercises, discover the hidden messages the author has left, read the bibliography - and at some point it will strike you; the incredible richness of the message. The book, you, the world, all of it IS open. The pages of this universe are blank, unwritten. Dr. Hofstadter has woven a message of eternal optimism, one that transcends even the infinite depth to the tapestry of topics spread before us: The great freedom that we, nature's most remarkable matrix, are part of a future without destiny. Even if we were created, any purpose impressed upon us is lost in a cacophany of unexpected relationships. Deterministic, yet infinitely complex and unpredictable. We can never understand anything completely, and thus every life can experience the magic of observing that which cannot be explained. This is a book of wonders, and you will never regret the time you spent on it.